Update 8/31

Sawtelle, Wilshire and the Tragedy of the Commons:

“The Tragedy of the Commons is a type of social trap, often economic, that involves a conflict over finite resources between individual interests and the common good.” (from wikipedia). In our case, the finite resource, is high yield vending areas such as Sawtelle and Wilshire. The individual interests are making money, and the common good is not exhausting those areas to a point where regulation is going to ruin it for everyone.

Sawtelle is a quant area with a lot of restaurants. I was down there checking out the situation last Tuesday evening and there were 10 trucks. This is not sustainable. When there were only two or three trucks down there, it was not an issue. Now that there are 10, the City Council office is taking notice and will be more aggressive about ANY enforcement. This means that they will instruct the LAPD to ask trucks to move if they’re in a red zone, if they’re larger than the space, or they may send a senior lead officer to ask for bathroom letters.

I’m not sure what the appropriate protocol on this area should be. I would like to solicit some ideas from trucks that go down there. Should trucks try to limit their visits? Should trucks coordinate with each other to ensure that there aren’t over 3 trucks? I don’t know the answer, but we have to address this issue now.

Wilshire is still an issue. The difference with Wilshire is the amount of people being serviced. There is a much larger pool so the resources (customers) that are there, but the issue needs some resolution. The 5900 block is much more amenable to the presence of the trucks, so I always suggest going parking there. I’ll be on Wilshire on Thursday to assess the situation again, but I would like some feed back.

Booking lots:

When booking a lot, please find the date you would like, request it via lots@socalmfva.com, wait for a confirmation. When you get a confirmation, CHECK THE SCHEDULE TO ENSURE THAT YOU ARE WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE. You can book the Century lot once a month. The Hollywood production lot is booked in rounds. So we have just completed 2 rounds of booking. When you request a day at the Hollywood lot, please make the request without other lot request. Please use “x Request for the HPC LOT” x is the number of times that you’ve been there. The number should coincide with the round of booking we’re on. I will open up the HPC lot for the 3rd round of booking tomorrow.

So please use “3rd Request for the HPC LOT” when booking that lot.

LB Street Food Fest: I just talked to the organizer and expressed our displeasure over the charge above and beyond the LB fees. They told me that there were a lot more fees above and beyond. I am going to reach out and try and get a sponsor to cover the extra fees. The $250 is the total cost. This is the same cost that the first event charged after the rebate. This is one of the only organizers that is 100% non-profit. The organizers are not paid. Please consider that when assessing the fees.

Culver City: We have a call into the City Attorney to let them know that we’ll be challenging the time limit rules there. If you’ve had any problems over time limits in Culver City. Please let me know.